NER and HR Pathways Act Sequentially to Promote UV-C-Induced Germ Cell Apoptosis in Caenorhabditis Elegans
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Cell Death and Differentiation (2011) 18, 897–906 & 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved 1350-9047/11 www.nature.com/cdd NER and HR pathways act sequentially to promote UV-C-induced germ cell apoptosis in Caenorhabditis elegans L Stergiou1,3,4, R Eberhard1,2,4, K Doukoumetzidis1 and MO Hengartner*,1 Ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced DNA damage evokes a complex network of molecular responses, which culminate in DNA repair, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Here, we provide an in-depth characterization of the molecular pathway that mediates UV-C-induced apoptosis of meiotic germ cells in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that UV-C-induced DNA lesions are not directly pro-apoptotic. Rather, they must first be recognized and processed by the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. Our data suggest that NER pathway activity transforms some of these lesions into other types of DNA damage, which in turn are recognized and acted upon by the homologous recombination (HR) pathway. HR pathway activity is in turn required for the recruitment of the C. elegans homolog of the yeast Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 (9-1-1) complex and activation of downstream checkpoint kinases. Blocking either the NER or HR pathway abrogates checkpoint pathway activation and UV-C-induced apoptosis. Our results show that, following UV-C, multiple DNA repair pathways can cooperate to signal to the apoptotic machinery to eliminate potentially hazardous cells. Cell Death and Differentiation (2011) 18, 897–906; doi:10.1038/cdd.2010.158; published online 10 December 2010 Eukaryotic cells possess several surveillance mechanisms the signaling network that ultimately balances cellular DNA that, upon sensing DNA damage, initiate signaling cascades damage responses between genome maintenance, senes- that lead to response programs such as cell cycle arrest, DNA cence and death. Accordingly, loss of their function has repair and apoptosis, to protect the organism against the consequences for DNA repair, cellular proliferation and introduction of new mutations. Disruption of such pathways survival.6–8 results in increased genomic instability, a hallmark of most Simple model organisms are very useful to decipher types of cancers.1,2 complex DNA damage responses. In Caenorhabditis elegans, Genetic and biochemical studies have provided a thorough the effects of IR have been studied extensively.9,10 We mechanistic understanding of the various repair processes previously reported a genetic pathway that induces both initiated upon recognition of specific types of lesions. For apoptotic cell death of meiotic cells and cell cycle arrest of example, the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway proliferating mitotic cells following UV-C treatment.11 We removes cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and 6-4 identified several new genes required for these responses and photoproducts generated upon exposure to ultraviolet (UV-C) genetically ordered them into a signaling pathway that light, whereas the homologous recombination (HR) machin- overlaps with, but is distinct from the pathway(s) activated ery repairs double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) induced by upon IR. treatments such as ionizing radiation (IR).3 In this study, we investigate the molecular mechanism by Mutations in NER components underlie the syndromes which UV-C triggers apoptosis in the C. elegans adult xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), trichothiodystrophy or Cock- hermaphrodite germ line. We show that lesions caused by ayne syndrome. Patients are hypersensitive to sunlight and UV-C are not pro-apoptotic per se; rather, they first require exhibit a variety of clinical features, including developmental processing by the NER machinery before they can activate defects, predisposition to skin cancer or internal tumors, apoptosis. A fraction of UV-C lesions is likely transformed by neurological disorders and highly accelerated aging.4 Studies NER into DNA intermediates that are substrates for the HR in cell culture and mouse models,5,6 as well as in yeast have machinery. Activation of the latter, in turn, leads to recruitment led to the detailed molecular characterization of the NER of the C. elegans homolog of the yeast Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 factors.3 Besides repair, many of these factors participate in (9-1-1) complex, activation of downstream checkpoint kinases 1Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich 8057, Switzerland and 2PhD Program in Molecular Life Sciences, Life Science Zurich Graduate School and MD/PhD Program, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland *Corresponding author: MO Hengartner, Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich 8057, Switzerland. Tel: þ 41 44 635 3140; Fax: þ 41 44 635 6861; E-mail: [email protected] 3Current address: Pike Pharma, Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland. 4These authors contributed equally to this work. Keywords: apoptosis; C. elegans; HR; NER; UV-C Abbreviations: UV-C, ultraviolet light C (254 nm); IR, ionizing radiation; CPDs, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers; DSB, double-strand DNA break; NER, nucleotide excision repair; HR, homologous recombination; 9-1-1 complex, Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 complex (HPR-9/HUS-1/MRT-2 in C. elegans); XPA, XPB, XPD, XPF, XPG, xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A, B, D, F, G; RPA-1, replication protein A large subunit homolog in C. elegans Received 06.5.10; revised 07.9.10; accepted 20.9.10; Edited by E Baehrecke; published online 10.12.10 HR is required for UV-C-induced apoptosis in C. elegans L Stergiou et al 898 and initiation of p53-dependent apoptosis. Our results indicate rad-54(RNAi);spo-11(ok79) animals showed a greatly that UV-C-induced apoptosis in C. elegans requires the reduced response to IR and, surprisingly, also to UV sequential activation of at least two distinct DNA damage (Figure 1g). Importantly, spo-11(ok79) mutants respond response pathways. normally to both IR and UV, showing that the DNA damage response pathways are functional (Figure 1g). The HR pathway therefore plays an important role in promoting Results apoptosis in response to UV-C. Finally, we tested animals lacking the recombinase Components of the HR pathway are required for RAD-51. In the human and yeast homologs, RAD-51 acts UV-C-induced apoptosis. We previously showed that in downstream of MRE-11 and RAD-54 to promote strand C. elegans UV-C radiation induces cell cycle arrest in mitotic exchange during HR. rad-51(RNAi) animals also fail to germ cells and apoptosis of meiotic cells at the pachytene complete meiotic recombination, resulting in increased basal stage.11 We also reported that XPA-1 and XPC-1, two levels of apoptosis (Figure 1h). However, unlike in rad-54 components of the NER pathway, are required for the mutants, this increase can be suppressed only by activation of these responses, with XPA-1 acting upstream of atl-1(tm853), but not atm-1(gk186) (Supplementary Figure 2). the 9-1-1 complex protein HUS-1 and the p53 homolog In contrast to mre-11 and rad-54 mutants, rad-51(lf) CEP-1 in UV-induced apoptosis.11 animals did not show any defect in either UV- or IR-induced How does XPA-1 function promote p53 activation following apoptosis (Figure 1h).15 Moreover, UV-C treatment led to UV-C exposure? One possibility is that NER processes a RAD-51 foci formation (Supplementary Figure 3a), indepen- fraction of UV-C-induced damage into other types of DNA dent of both xpa-1 and rad-54 (Supplementary Figures 3b and structures, which might in turn activate apoptosis. Given our c). These observations suggest that UV-C-induced RAD-51 previous observation that many genes involved in response to foci formation and apoptosis are independent events, and that DSBs are also activated following UV-C, we focused our initial RAD-51 is not essential for UV-C-induced apoptosis. attention on the HR pathway. mre-11(ok179) mutants, which Taken together, our results support the idea that the lack the exonuclease responsible for the initial processing of proteins involved in early stages of HR also act to promote DSBs during meiosis, showed a compromised apoptotic apoptosis in response to UV-C damage. response to UV-C, suggesting a requirement for MRE-11 in the initiation of UV-C-induced apoptosis (Figure 1a). By The HR pathway acts downstream of the NER pathway to contrast, IR-induced apoptosis was only slightly reduced promote UV-C-induced apoptosis (Figure 1a), in agreement with previous reports,12 possibly owing to alternative processing pathways. The data above suggest that both NER and HR pathways are The homologs of RAD-54 and RAD-51 functionally interact required for UV-C-induced apoptosis. These two pathways during recombinational repair in yeasts and mammals.13,14 might act in parallel and be simultaneously required for the We analyzed two previously uncharacterized, likely null induction of apoptosis. Alternatively, they might act in succes- rad-54 mutants, tm1268 and ok615 (Supplementary Figure sion, with NER recognizing and processing the initial UV-C 1a). As homozygous rad-54 progeny from heterozygous lesions and HR relaying the signal to the apoptotic machinery. To mothers show fully penetrant maternal-effect lethality, we distinguish between these two possibilities, we determined the analyzed first-generation homozygotes for germline apopto- effect of mutations in the NER or HR pathways on the subcellular sis. Under normal growth conditions, both rad-54(ok615) and localization of selected DNA damage response proteins. rad-54(tm1268) mutants exhibit a strong increase in germline We started by examining the distribution of a functional apoptosis, an effect that could be phenocopied by RNAi RAD-54::YFP fusion protein (Supplementary Figure 1b). (Figure 1b). This increase was dependent on the endonu- RAD-54::YFP formed foci following exposure to both IR or clease SPO-11, which specifically generates the DSBs that UV-C, consistent with our observation that the HR pathway initiate meiotic recombination (Figure 1c),12 suggesting that participates in UV-C-induced responses (Figure 2a).